We strongly support the American Association for Health Freedom ( web site www.apma.net) in their effort to pass the The Access To Medical Treatment Act. This is a Federal bill that has been introduced in the House by Representatives Peter DeFazio, Joe Barton, and Ron Paul and in the Senate by Senators Tom Daschle, Tom Harkin and Orrin Hatch, among others. The bill numbers are HR 1964 and S 1378 respectively, to read the text of the bill see http://thomas.loc.gov. and enter in the bill number.
Successful passage of this bill will require massive grass-roots community support. We urge everyone to become active and work to support this bill by writing your Senators and Representative. Visit How You can Support AMTA . You can become familiar with the bill by going to www.apma.net and visiting their Legislative Action Center for the names of your Representatives, and a sample letter.
The American Association for Health Freedom has provided write-ups on three topics.
The Access to Medical Treatment Act
Why Is Passage Of The Access To Medical Treatment Act Necessary For All Americans?
Sample letter
See Access to Medical Treatment Act
Questions & Answers
The Access to Medical Treatment Act (AMTA) would allow an individual to be treated by any health care practitioner who is legally authorized to provide health services in the state in which the services are provided, with any method of medical treatment the individual desires, so long as:
1) the treatment causes no harm more serious than reactions experienced with routinely used medical treatments for the same medical conditions; and
2) the patient is fully informed about the treatment and its possible side effects.
The bill does not dismantle the FDA or allow pharmaceutical companies to circumvent the agency. This legislation merely attempts to open up a closed system to the utilization of new, alternative treatments. The strict claims restriction in the bill is designed to ensure that little incentive exists for major marketing efforts on non-FDA approved treatments, and should address the legitimate concern that this legislation merely establishes a “bypass” for the FDA approval process. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission Act prevents pharmaceutical companies from marketing and advertising non-FDA approved drugs.
This is a freedom of choice issue:
Permitting the administration of alternative medical treatments, provided that individuals are not misled or misinformed, extends freedom of choice to the consumers of health care and increases market competition. This legislation stems from the conviction that patients should not be denied access to a non conventional treatment, if there is no evidence that it is harmful.
Medical doctors using only conventional therapies probably won't change their way of practicing medicine if AMTA becomes law. The small percentage of doctors using alternatives in medicine, naturopaths, dentists, nutritionists, and others, however, will finally be free to use the therapies they believe are best for their patients, and no longer have to worry about harassment, censure, or recrimination.
As things stand now, those who hold one view of health care expect to be allowed to decide what constitutes legal methods of healing. Benjamin Rush, MD, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and personal physician to George Washington said: "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom."
Actually, access to the full range of therapies, products and medical devices is quite restricted in the United States today. Americans are prevented from using life enhancing and even life saving therapies that have been used in other countries for decades. In surveys done by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, emergency room physicians, oncologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons, and cardiologists overwhelmingly favored access to unapproved drugs and devices, as long as the products carried a warning about their unapproved status. They also overwhelming agreed that the FDA’s approval process has hurt their ability to treat their patients with the best possible care.
The FDA’s present monopoly over approving new medical therapies is creating a two-tiered health care system. Those with more resources are able to access the best that the world has to offer. The rest of the population must make due with what the FDA has approved.
Medical doctors using only conventional therapies probably won't change their way of practicing medicine if the Access to Medical Treatment Act (AMTA) becomes law. The small percentage of doctors using alternatives in medicine, naturopaths, dentists, nutritionists and others however, will finally be free to use the therapies they believe are best for their patients, and no longer have to worry about harassment, censure, or recrimination.
As things stand now, those who hold one view of health care expect to be allowed to decide what constitutes legal methods of healing. It is just this kind of despotism that our Founding Fathers intended to prevent. Benjamin Rush, MD, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and personal physician to George Washington said: "Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an undercover dictatorship to restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others; the Constitution of the Republic should make a special privilege for medical freedoms as well as religious freedom."
Actually, access to the full range of therapies, products, and medical devices is quite restricted in the United States today. Americans are prevented from using life enhancing and even life saving therapies that have been used in other countries for decades. In surveys done by the Competitive Enterprise Institute, emergency room physicians, oncologists, neurologists, neurosurgeons and cardiologists overwhelmingly favored access to unapproved drugs and devices, as long as the products carried a warning about their unapproved status. They also overwhelming agreed that the FDA’s approval process has hurt their ability to treat their patients with the best possible care.
The FDA’s present monopoly over approving new medical therapies is creating a two-tiered health care system. Those with more resources are able to access the best that the world has to offer. The rest of the population must make due with what the FDA has approved. Today, desperate patients travel to clinics in Mexico, the Bahamas and elsewhere to access treatments that may or may not be effective, and fall prey to internet scams and snake oil salesmen. There is no way to collect data about what works and what doesn’t. Instead, we would rather ensure that patients are able to remain in the United States, visit authorized practitioners, receive the protection and complete information afforded by the legislation’s informed consent and other consumer protection requirements, and make it possible for practitioners and the government to gather data on the effectiveness of these therapies.
Not only does the Access to Medical Treatment Act expand patients’ options, it helps ensure patients’ safety. In addition, it returns the decision-making authority to the patient, and reasserts the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship.
Sample for Letters to Senators and Congressman
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510-0505
RE: Access to Medical Treatment Act
Dear:
I am writing, as a constituent and consumer, to ask you to cosponsor the Access to Medical Treatment Act (S 1378/HR 1964). It would give me the right to use non-FDA approved products, so long as I followed the consumer safeguards outlined in the bill, and am under the care of an authorized health care practitioner.
This is truly a patients' Bill of Rights. It returns the decision-making authority to the patient, and reasserts the sanctity of the doctor-patient relationship. Most importantly, it gives American consumers access to the many drugs and therapies that are available to people all over the world, but which cannot be sold in the United States.
Today, we have a two-tiered medical system: one track for the people who can afford to fly to Germany or Italy or Canada for life-enhancing and life-saving treatments; and one track for the rest of us. As a result, we are literally encouraging a black market in such things as cancer and arthritis treatments. We are also condemning millions of Americans to a life of pain and even premature death because they cannot use safe and effective products that are available elsewhere in the world.
It takes an average of 10 years and $320 million to get one drug through the FDA approval process. Not every company is willing or able to make that kind of investment, especially if they are already selling their products in other countries. In the case of non-patentable products, there is simply no incentive for companies to make that kind of investment.
I say, give Americans credit for being able to decide if they want to use a particular therapy. Give their physicians credit for knowing if a therapy will help their patient. And get the FDA bureaucrats out of the decision-making process. Cosponsor the Access to Medical Treatment Act. It has been introduced in the House by Representatives Peter DeFazio, Joe Barton, and Ron Paul and in the Senate by Senators Tom Daschle, Tom Harking, and Orrin Hatch, among others. Please add your name to this list of cosponsors who understand the importance of health freedom!
Sincerely,